When stopped by police, and questioned as to why there was such a large amount of money in his passenger seat, Balotelli said: “Because I am Rich”, and, when further prompted, said “Also, I am F1 World Champion!” :D

@fastiesty I can’t look beyond Marciello, he looks very good already, and if he takes his chance next year in GP2 or WSR, then I can see him either getting a Marussia or Sauber seat, and maybe even leapfrog Bianchi to replace Raikkonen eventually, and from there, it’s all down to him. Fuoco, I think if he can emulate Marciello in F3 next year, Ferrari will have three very bright talents in Marciello, Bianchi and Fuoco, potentially having Bianchi and Marciello in the Ferrari’s in 4 or so years time after Raikkonen and Alonso have gone. The future is bright without a doubt for the Italians, but they need some luck and a bit of grooming.

@mathers Yes, it’s good that Ferrari has gotten behind some good Italian drivers, as now Minardi has gone, leaving those Italians like Filippi and Mortara with no chance to break through into F1. The route is now Marussia, possibly Sauber, Ferrari.

But, it’s hard to know if all 3 could make it to a Ferrari seat, or even if the best one will make it. Ferrari could still plump for a well-known line up of Vettel, Hulkenberg etc. if not a WDC paired with the best junior driver.

If the top teams all now promote from within, we could see Hulkenberg never getting a top seat chance, which will be quite a shame. Imagine if Grosjean from this year finishes his career never having won a race either! Or both do for that matter!

@fastiesty I know what you mean about promoting from within, it has really closed up chances for others, but what about Mercedes? I know they have quite a young driver lineup comparatively, but in 5 years time, are they both still going to be there, or will they see someone like Bianchi or Marciello being rejected for a Ferrari seat and pick one of them up? They have nowhere near as well developed a program, just sticking a few into DTM, so they will hopefully provide a route to the top for the future

@mathers True, I think Mercedes will only take on the best drivers it can find at the time, possibly German. Their young driver program just seems to include the DTM guys, and Bird is their reserve driver anyway. I think Wickens and Vietoris would make a good young driver pairing at a Mercedes Toro Rosso like team. But if a seat becomes available (Hamilton or Rosberg leaving), I think they would snap up someone like Hulkenberg at last (German, WDC material), if not Vettel, and it’s hard to not see 2 of those 4 driving in a top team like Mercedes if nowhere else. They could even pick up Paul di Resta back from DTM, but perhaps not as Norbert Haug is no longer in the organisation! And if they take Sutil, well…

I have a feeling Hamilton and Rosberg may stick around for more than 5 years, but you never know.. and I still think Hulk will be around at the top of his game then anyway, if still waiting for his chance. There’s always upcoming young German talent, like Kirchhofer, that could make an attempt at F1/getting in Mercedes’ viewfinder. After that perhaps they will look for the best talent around, and that could well be a young talent currently on its way to F1.

At least Bortolotti can say he’s driven a Ferrari F1 car… he’s in great shape now but has missed his single seater chance.. shame really, he’d be another one to get a try-out year in the Minardi. Ferrari have stuck to top draw talent with Bianchi, Marciello, Fuoco, and cut those deemed not to be that, including Bortolotti, Maisano.. both title winners in the junior ladder.

Just found this thread while searching for another. I’m a regular editor on Wikipedia, and we sometimes get people editing themselves into articles like this because they think it’s clever. Most of my attention has been on the 2014 season article for a while now, but this guy has been a serial pest, so I’ll keep an eye out for him.